Alta Garda Seeks to Boost Inland Tourism via Diffused Hotel Model
Lakeshore tourism and enhancement of the inland areas. The new horizon is to promote the inland areas by offering – for those willing to bear a not excessive financial effort – the opportunity to recover rooms and expand buildings to be used for tourist accommodation. This is one of the objectives indicated by the Montana Community in one of the Sector Plans linked to the Territorial Coordination Plan.
Proposals and objectives of the project
“It could represent a significant development opportunity for the entire Alta Garda mountain area and for hundreds of small property owners with scattered houses across the territory.” These are the considerations of Battista Berardinelli, Tourism Councillor of the Comunità Montana Parco dell’Alto Garda and former mayor of Tignale (now more in opposition) for several years.
The idea on the table has a name well known in some national contexts, “Albergo diffuso” (scattered hotel). The proposal would focus on private residences to develop a widespread tourism model, transforming them, at least partially, into guesthouses and offering the possibility to expand the tourism offer in some areas, usually non-central.
The proposal will be to allow interventions and extensions of buildings, but subject to the exclusive use for tourism of some rooms, including those that will be built, with related services. It’s certainly not a new idea in South Tyrol and Central Italy regions.
Situation and development in the territory
“In the Alta Garda territory, especially in the mountain areas,” explains Berardinelli, “there are numerous scattered houses: Tremosine, Tignale, Montegargnano, Valvestino, Magasa, and the inland areas of Toscolano Maderno. Generally, in these zones, the Zoning Plans only allow adjustments for the construction of bathrooms and sanitary facilities.”
As soon as we can initiate the Sector Plan (not before October) related to Tourism, we plan to conduct a census of all buildings with these characteristics. It will not be a short task.
The goal? To see if there is potential and interest among owners to turn at least part of their buildings into tourist accommodations. The Territorial Coordination Plan, created by Luciano Lussignoli and filed on July 30, is the regulatory tool capable of launching this ambitious project.
The process now involves a conference of mayors (to which the Plan will be presented), scheduled for early next month, before moving towards final approval. At that point, the “Albergo diffuso” proposal could also be launched, as previously mentioned.
Indeed, the Territorial Plan includes several Sector Plans, one of which focuses on tourism. Nonetheless, local municipal land use tools will need to be amended for implementation.
Risks and potential of the initiative
Could the risk of uncontrolled widespread cementification be imminent? “It shouldn’t happen because specific prescriptions will be implemented. All scattered houses will be listed, and the opportunity for expansion will be considered for each, assessing whether they can be transformed into guesthouses or other tourist accommodations.”
“Considering tourism, it’s no secret that attracting investment in large structures is difficult; in this way, many could intervene with more affordable sums, on their own properties, dedicating part of the building to tourism activity during the summer or year-round.”
Supporters of the Albergo diffuso idea believe the potential is infinite, with a reduced risk of drastically altering the territory. The process will likely take a long time, but in the future, cooperative groups of owners may emerge, joining efforts to offer tourists a high number of rooms across different locations in Alto Garda.
Alongside the Albergo diffuso concept, another proposal involves recovering additional characteristic haylofts in the upper Valvestino area, in the Rest zone. Again, the Montana Community‘s efforts will be directed toward rural tourism, focusing on expanding bed capacity. The hayloft recovery project would follow a different path from that of Albergo diffuso, aiming to include it in a Life – Ambiente project within the 2000-2006 plan.
